The Reason Why Edited
by AmajoS
Summary: I am editing, correcting and reuploading my story, The Reason Why. I will also be finishing it after I've completed the corrections. The story is about Ash's struggle to survive a vicious attack and his friends' efforts to save him.
1. Ash Is Injured

Hello. I am editing and re-uploading this story, correcting old spelling mistakes and formatting errors and so on. I'll be making a few other changes as I go to, to help the story flow better and all. I'll probably be replacing chapters at a rate of one a day or so. I don't want the project to take forever.

After the original seventeen chapters have been fixed, I'll be finishing the story with the final two chapters. I'm leaving the original up, so if you want to check it out, feel free.

I'm only going to put this disclaimer up once. I do not own Pokemon. Boy-howdy, do I ever wish I did, but I don't. I'm also not writing this story for any sort of profit. Suing me over this story would be like trying to squeeze a turnip and getting blood from it anyway.

* * *

**The Reason Why**

Tracy and Misty were sitting in the shade waiting for Ash, who had gone to get some firewood for their campsite. It had been an especially long day and they were all tired. Of course, Misty and Ash got in an argument about who should get the firewood. Tracy, being the nice guy he always was, tried to settle the fight by volunteering to get the wood, but that made Misty mad too. Why should Tracy have to get the wood every single time? So Misty had badgered Ash and glared at Tracy and finally Ash did go. She felt bad about it afterward, but it just wasn't fair. Ash could be so darn lazy!

The red headed girl sighed, wondering if she might have said some things that were a little too mean. She knew she had a bad temper; it came with the red hair after all. Ash knew how to push all her buttons too and make her lash out even more than she usually did. Most of the time he seemed to enjoy it. Getting a kick out of making her mad. However this time, when he'd left, he'd been just as mad as she was. _Maybe I went a little too far that time_, she thought after replaying some of the things she'd said in her head. _I'll just be extra nice to him when he gets back. That'll make up for it_. Misty looked up as Pikachu scampered up with an arm load of twigs and small sticks. "Is Ash on the way Pikachu?" she asked taking the kindling from the small electric mouse and handing it to Tracy.

"Kachu! Pikapi pi chu pika." (Yep! Ash is right behind me.) Pikachu replied. Misty smiled at Pikachu. She wasn't sure what it had said exactly, of course. Only Ash could understand Pikachu and even then only when it spoke slowly. She did recognize 'Pikapi' as the word it used for Ash's name however, and so she figured it had said that Ash was on his way. Just then, they heard a scream of fear and pain. A scream that was abruptly cut off.

"Ash!" "Pikapi!" they all cried, running toward the sound.

They found Ash a short distance away. He was on the ground in a pool of blood and a large Rhyhorn was nudging his still form. Pikachu didn't even pause. It let loose a powerful blast of electricity. The blast was fueled by Pikachu's fear and anger and was more than strong enough to drive away the Rhyhorn. "Pikapi!" Pikachu cried.

"Oh no... Oh look at all the blood...," Misty whispered. "Ash! Ash please open your eyes!" She begged, kneeling beside Ash and reaching out to him.

"Don't move him Misty. I think he has some broken ribs and who knows what else is hurt." Tracy warned her. He felt sick looking at his friend. Ash had a large lump forming on his head. Through a tear in his shirt, Tracy could see Ash's ribs and the frightening discoloration surrounding a small gash. Most worrisome though, was the blood pumping out of a deep tear in Ash's thigh. Tracy pulled an extra shirt out of his pack and quickly wrapped it tight around Ash's leg. He didn't know if that would work, but it was all he could think of. Ash was losing too much blood.

Pikachu was horrified. Ash was so still. To the Pokemon's sensitive ears Ash's breathing sounded strange. There was a hollow bubbling sound to it that terrified him. Pikachu was afraid he was watching his best friend die and there wasn't anything he could do to help him. "Pikapi...pika kachu. Pikachu pika Pikapi." (Ash...you gotta hold on. Just hold on please Ash.)

Misty watched Tracy trying to help Ash. She knew he was doing all he could...probably much more than she would be able to do if it were just her, but she couldn't help but think how much she wished Brock were here. Brock would know what to do. Tracy was a great friend, and he knew lots about Pokemon, but she wasn't sure he knew enough about people to be able to help Ash. Brock knew how to take care of everything. He'd had loads of experience taking care of hurt and sick kids after raising his little brothers and sisters by himself after all.

_Oh Brock...why aren't you here now!_ Misty thought. _Ash needs you and you aren't here._ A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered to her that she hadn't been there either. That if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been out getting wood and this wouldn't have happened. Tears came to her eyes at that thought, especially when she remembered that the last thing she'd said to Ash was that if he hadn't ruined her bike and made her follow him around waiting for the money, she wouldn't be on this stupid island waiting for his lazy butt to go get some wood so she wouldn't freeze...again! _Why did I say that?_ She asked herself. _I don't care about that stupid bike...it wasn't even mine. Ash never made me do anything._ Misty blinked back tears and looked to see if Tracy needed any help.

" Tracy...is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, can you go back to the camp and get Ash's sleeping bag? He'll need to stay warm. We might want to move camp over here." Tracy answered without looking up. He felt the bump on Ash's head and thought that he might have a concussion, but the skin wasn't broken and he didn't think that Ash's skull was fractured or anything. _That's good...well...not good…but not as bad as it could be I guess_, he thought. Next Tracy looked at Ash's ribs. He felt very carefully and discovered that he was right...at least two ribs where broken. All the damage was on the front though...so he didn't think that Ash had any back injuries. _At least I hope he doesn't, 'cause I have to move him...just a little...but a back injury could be very dangerous if he's moved even just a little_, he thought.

He looked up at Misty when she returned with Ash's sleeping bag and hers. They spread his out and very carefully moved Ash onto it. Then Misty covered him up in hers. Tracy checked Ash's leg again and the makeshift bandage seemed to be working it was soaked through a little but not too much and they didn't seem to have done too much damage in moving him.

Pikachu watched Misty and Tracy work to help Ash and felt helpless. It looked around trying to think of some way it could help its friend when it noticed the pokeballs. There were two of them lying on the ground. One was about five feet away and open and the other was a little further and still closed. Pikachu investigated the pokeballs. It sniffed the open one and sneezed lightly. It smelled hot. Like the campfire or like...like Charizard! This was Charizard's pokeball...but where was Charizard?

Next, Pikachu went to the other pokeball. A quick sniff told Pikachu that this was an empty ball, one that had never been used. Pikachu sat for a moment and wondered what it meant. _Why is Charizard's pokeball out, and open? Where is Charizard? And why is there an empty pokeball just laying here?_ The questions circled around Pikachu's mind as it stared at the pokeballs.

Suddenly like a clap of thunder, it all made sense. Ash tried to capture the Rhyhorn. He must have tried to get Charizard to battle...only...Charizard must have run off leaving Ash defenseless against the angry Rhyhorn! Pikachu felt sparks fly from its cheeks it was so angry. _Where is that lousy, no good Charizard?_ Pikachu thought, scanning the sky for the wayward pokemon.

Tracy, satisfied that they'd done all they could at the moment for Ash, noticed Pikachu acting oddly. It was staring up into the sky and sparks were shooting off its cheeks. It looked really upset. "Pikachu? What is it?" he asked, looking up at the sky. "What do you see up there?"

"Pikapi pika pikachu chu pi Pikachupi! Pikachu pika pi chu kachu ka pi. Pikachupi pika pika pikachu pi pika! Pikapi pi chu Pikachupi pi pika!" (Ash got hurt because of that no good Charizard! He tried to get it to battle that Rhyhorn but it just flew off and left him alone. Ash might die and it's all that Charizard's fault!) Pikachu cried angrily, still looking up, trying to spot the orange pokemon. Pikachu glanced at Tracy and could see that he didn't understand. A quick look at Misty told the mouse pokemon that she didn't either. So, with a sigh, Pikachu began to pantomime and to point out the two pokeballs.

Misty, sitting by Ash and holding his hand, watched Pikachu's gestures. Usually she was pretty good at following them. Sometimes making Ash mad by figuring out what Pikachu was trying to say before he did. She sniffed sadly remembering that. _Oh Ash...just wake up and be ok and I'll never ever figure out Pikachu's charades first I promise!_ Misty couldn't follow Pikachu this time, her mind was too distracted by her fear, worry and guilt. However, when the little yellow pokemon picked up the pokeballs she got curious. She took them from Pikachu and looked them over. Tracy knelt by her and looked too. One ball was open and smelled slightly like rocks do when they are really hot. The other was empty.

"That open one is Charizard's I bet. Thats what pokeballs that have fire-types smell like usually," Tracy said. "But where is Charizard? And why was that empty ball there too?"

Misty thought about it for a moment...and a horrible thought came to her. " Tracy! Ash was trying to catch that Rhyhorn! He used Charizard, and Charizard must have ran off and left him here!"

With a confused look, Tracy asked, "Why didn't he use one of his other pokemon then?"

"Maybe he didn't have time...maybe the Rhyhorn had already started to charge. Oh that Charizard! When I get my hands on that sorry excuse for a pokemon!" Misty couldn't even finish she was so angry. It was one thing to refuse to obey orders, to nap during a battle...but it was whole different matter to leave Ash alone in such a dangerous situation.

To Be Continued...


	2. Charizard Returns

**The Reason Why**  
(continued)

Charizard swooped into the original campsite a few hours later, looking full of itself as usual. Misty and Pikachu had just finished gathering up the rest of the supplies and were about to take them to the new camp it arrived. Misty let out a small, inarticulate sound of rage when she saw the orange, fire-type pokemon. "Just where the hell have you been!?" She shouted at the surprised dragon pokemon, dropping the packs and stomping toward it.

Charizard pulled back in shock, raising its wings defensively. It wasn't used to the human children being so confrontational. The confused pokemon turned toward Pikachu, looking for an explanation and was even more surprised by what it saw. Pikachu was furious. Pikachu was never furious. _What is going on? First the little human girl charges at me like she wants to battle... And, now Pikachu looks like it'd like to electrocute me._ Charizard tilted its head questioningly and asked, "Zard...charizard char chari?" (Pikachu...what's going on here?)

" Chu pikachu pi Pikapi kachu pi pika!?" (Why did you leave Ash alone with a Rhyhorn!?) Pikachu demanded, sparks flying. It was too angry to take notice of the Charizard's obvious confusion. In fact, it made Pikachu even angrier that Charizard would ask such a question after what had happened.

"Char? Zard charizard char. Zard." (What? There wasn't any Rhyhorn. Honest.) Charizard replied, completely confused. It clearly remembered being let out of its pokeball and then, deciding to enjoy some free-time, flying away. This Rhyhorn business was news to Charizard. By the looks on Pikachu and Misty's faces though, this wasn't a joke of some sort, that much was clear.

"Pikachu! Pika kachu Pikapi pikachu chu pi kachu pika pikachu pi pika?" (What! You're saying that when Ash let you out it wasn't to battle a Rhyhorn?) Pikachu asked, now just as confused as Charizard.

"Char, charizard zard rizard char Charizar zard charizard...char charizard zard char char!" (Of course not, I would never leave Ash alone with a Rhyhorn...the kid may be annoying, but I don't want him dead for goodness sake!) Charizard was worried now. Apparently Ash had gotten into some sort of trouble after Charizard had left. Trouble with a Rhyhorn. A wild pokemon that size could seriously hurt a human Ash's size; especially one with as little common sense as Ash had.

During this exchange Misty stood and waited, fuming. _Oh, what are they saying? Why can't pokemon speak English? That Meowth of Team Rocket's can. If he can so can Pikachu darn it! I hate waiting._ Finally she decided to not wait anymore. "What are you two saying? Charizard I hope you have some excuse for leaving Ash like that! But even if you did, no excuse is good enough!" She shouted, not noticing the rather puzzled looks on both the pokemons' faces.

Charizard was astonished at Misty's outburst. _She is so angry! She'd never actually been angry at me before, _it thought,_ annoyed maybe, but never angry. She is usually more upset with Ash than me when I act up._ "Charizard...char zard zar Charizar?" (Pikachu...what's happened to Ash?) It asked, concerned and knowing that for Misty to be this upset it must be very bad.

"Pikapi...Pikapi chu kachu pi. Pi...pikachu" (Ash...Ash is hurt really bad. He...might die.) The yellow pokemon said softly. It looked up at Charizard with tears in its eyes. "Kachu pika chu Pikapi chu pikachu. Pikachu pi." (Tell me you didn't leave Ash. Tell the truth.)

"Char! Charizard char zard. Chari charizard." (No! I wouldn't do that. I promise.) It replied vehemently. "Izard Charizar?" (Where's Ash?)

Pikachu looked at Charizard searchingly. Was it telling the truth? Pikachu wasn't sure...it thought so, but… Then what had happened? Pikachu looked into Charizard's eyes and saw concern. Worry. Those emotions echoed so strong in the electric mouse that it had to fight for a moment to control them. Finally, it made a decision. "Pikachu." (Follow me) It said, turning and heading toward the new camp, and Ash.

Charizard hesitated a moment, glancing at Misty, and then followed Pikachu quickly. It tried to ignore Misty's outraged demand that it come back right this minute. As it followed along, it became aware of a coppery sweet smell. A familiar smell, horribly familiar. It was the smell of blood, a scent the fire type knew well. It had recently hunted so the memory of the smell was especially fresh. What made it so horrible though was that it was Ash's blood. The smell was so strong; a great deal of blood must have spelt. Charizard rumbled worriedly as it and Pikachu approached the camp and the source of the smell, just what would it see? It wasn't sure it wanted to know. Charizard had to fight the impulse to fly away. To not see the awful sight that it knew was waiting for it.

Misty followed the two pokemon silently, carrying the packs. She didn't understand what was going on. _Why is Pikachu taking Charizard to see Ash?_ She was sure that was what was happening, but why? She didn't want Charizard anywhere near Ash. She wondered again what the two had said to each other.

To be continued...


End file.
